![]() ![]() Like Jenkins’ original “Wonder Woman,” this sequel spins out of control once the villains gain their full power, shifting from engaging character-based comedy to eye-crossing, CGI-bloated super-battle. Then again, by the point these two frenemies face off, the movie has long since stopped being fun. With her virtual fur and decidedly more feline physique, this Cheetah is neither ferocious nor any kind of match for Wonder Woman. Wiig owns the before-and-after versions of Barbara, but not this final iteration of the character. ![]() In the comics, Cheetah is nearly always drawn as a gratuitously busty nude woman with strategically placed spots, a fanboy fetish object. Later, Barbara will get a second wish - to become “an apex predator” - which transforms Wiig into the Cheetah, a creature who’s less Catwoman than lame “Cats”-level miscalculation. Her clumsy co-worker at the Smithsonian Museum, superficially Selina Kyle-like Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), asks to be as strong, sexy, cool and special as Diana, but loses … her endearingly uncouth, undesirable, unfashionable and unremarkable qualities (a better trade-off than the one Diana gets). Unless she renounces it, the wish will eventually cost Wonder Woman her powers. Jacobs short story in which wishes have consequences, but that’s hardly enough to explain the totem’s complicated rules.)Īfter touching the stone, Diana gets her boyfriend back, but she’s gonna be in trouble. (The characters hastily reference “The Monkey’s Paw,” the classic W.W. But it also comes with a catch: It takes as much as it gives. The gem can grant the wish of anyone who touches it. That robbery results in the recovery of the Dreamstone, an ancient citrine artifact with magic powers. ![]() In between, Zack Snyder made a noisy, present-day “Justice League” movie (due for a director’s cut next year), but Jenkins has a much better handle on what audiences want from the divine Miss Diana, and “Wonder Woman 1984” delivers, for a time.Įmbracing both her iconic Washington, D.C., setting and the slightly corny comic book style of the period, Jenkins serves up scenes in which Wonder Woman intervenes in everyday crises, saving a Walkman-wearing jogger from being run down by a Pontiac Firebird or rescuing two girls endangered during a shopping-mall jewelry heist. This time, it’s Steve’s turn to feel out of sync with society, as Diana makes a wish that resurrects her lost love, bringing him back to the year the Apple Macintosh was unveiled. In Jenkins’ 2017 origin story, Gal Gadot plays the fish out of water, as Amazon princess/goddess Diana Prince finds herself thrust into war-torn Europe - in 1918, a good 10 years before the invention of sliced bread - doing her best to adapt to the conventions of a less enlightened patriarchy, with the help of stud pilot Steve Trevor ( Chris Pine). This is what it felt like to watch Richard Donner’s “Superman” for the first time, or to marvel at the strong female role models of such vintage TV shows as “Wonder Woman” and “The Bionic Woman.” Even if the ’80s seem as distant to you as the World War I setting of Patty Jenkins’ history-making “Wonder Woman” feature three years ago, the sequel offers an amusing tour through that tackiest of decades, when shoulder pads and permed hair were all the rage. For those old enough to remember the ’80s, it’s like going home for Christmas and discovering a box full of childhood toys in your parents’ attic. will be streaming the film the same day it opens in theaters.)įor nearly two hours of its 151-minute runtime, “Wonder Woman 1984” accomplishes what we look to Hollywood tentpoles to do: It whisks us away from our worries, erasing them with pure escapism. (In this case, most people won’t be running out at all, but tuning in via HBO Max, where Warner Bros. Put another way, if a nuclear bomb detonates in downtown Manhattan, you don’t run out to watch a Bond movie to feel better. I suppose “Wonder Woman 1984” can achieve some of those things, but mostly it reminds us how badly we could use a superhero right now - a fantasy turn-back-time and fix-the-situation savior - and in that sense, it’s at once a fizzy pop-art distraction and a major downer. They can bring us together when we’re apart and heal the divisions that define our times. SPOILER A LERT: The following review contains mild spoilers for “ Wonder Woman 1984.”įor the past nine months, since a real-world viral pandemic swept the planet and forced the shutdown of civilization as we know it, we’ve been reading about how this or that motion picture is “the movie we need right now.” Movies don’t solve global health crises, but they can distract and inspire us. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |